The Best Match
by bookboysarebetter
Summary: Somehow, Biana has convinced Sophie to get her matchmaking scroll, along with the rest of the group. Sophie thinks she has it all figured out- she's dating Keefe, and she's happy. But her list changes everything. Hearts are broken, matches are made, and friendships are tested in... The Best Match. Sequel to "The Sleepover." T just to be safe. Characters owned by Shannon Messenger.
1. Note to Readers (not a chapter)

**Disclaimer: This story is also posted on my Wattpad account, book_boys_are_better. I will post this on my other account as well, so nobody is confused. Thank you, bookboysarebetter.**


	2. Prologue

**A/N Hey guys! So... basic information about the story:**

 **It's the sequel to "The Sleepover." Although "The Sleepover" was predominantly Foster-Keefe, "The Best Match" will include Sophitz, Sodex, and other ships among secondary characters such as Biana/Dex, Biana/Tam, Linh/Fitz, and Linh/Dex. You don't necessarily have to have read the previous book, but it is definitely better to.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 _Recap:_

 _Biana coughed. "Um... speaking of that... I've decided something really important. I didn't want to say it right now, but everyone's here, so I might as well... I've decided that I want to get my matchmaker's list."_

"You... You what?" Sophie squeaked.

"I want to get my matchmaker's list," Biana repeated.

Alden frowned. "Don't you want to wait until you're a little... I don't know... _older_?"

"No," Biana said, trying her best not to look nervous. "I know that you waited hundreds of years to find someone, but..."

"But?" Sophie questioned.

"But I think that the person I want to be with," Biana said slowly. "Is someone I already know."

Dex gaped at her. "Someone y-you already k-know?"

Biana blushed, nodding as she looked at the floor. "Yeah."

"Huh."

The room was silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The only sound was the clinking of Keefe drinking from his mug, oblivious to what was going on. Slowly, Sophie noticed a look of realization come on to everyone's faces. Biana was ready to make the most important decision of her entire life. Breaking the silence, Fitz said, "Well, I'm not going to let my sister get her scroll before I do. I'm getting my matchmaker's list too."

"We promised that we'd get them together!" Keefe whined. "That's it, I'm joining in on the fun. One scroll, coming up, please!"

Sophie sighed. If her boyfriend- it felt so good to call him her boyfriend- was getting a scroll, then so would she. "I'm in."

"Hey, Tam?" Linh asked with a pleading look in her eye.

"Fine," Tam grumbled. "If Linh's getting a scroll, then so am I."

Alden and Della turned to Dex expectantly. He ran his hands through his hair exasperatedly. "You expect me to make a decision that quickly?"

"I mean, it would be fun if we all got our scrolls at the same time," Linh said. "But you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'll _think_ about it," Dex said.

Biana clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay!"


	3. Will You Marry Me Eventually?

Keefe sighed, wrapping an arm around Sophie's shoulders. "So, when is Biana going to pick us up?"

"I dunno," Sophie replied, leaning back on the couch. For almost forty five minutes, they had been waiting at Havenfield for Biana to pick them up and take them to the Matchmaker's office to retrieve their scrolls. By now, they were both tired and hungry waiting for her to come. Suddenly she asked, "Hey, when's Sandor coming back from his honeymoon?"

"Shouldn't you know that?" Keefe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, probably. Honestly, as long as he's with Grizel, I'm fine. It took them forever to get together."

"No kidding," Keefe said. "Hey, let's make sure that we don't take that long to get married."

"It was like two years, though. Not that lon- wait, what?" Sophie asked in shock. "You- you want to get married someday?"

Keefe looked away, a blush tinting his face. "Yeah, eventually. I mean, we're both getting our Matchmaking scrolls, and hopefully we'll be on each other's list. We probably will be."

"Yeah, but, we've been dating for like a week. We haven't even kissed," Sophie said. "Don't you think it's a little, you know, soon?"

"Well, duh," Keefe said, rolling his eyes. "Whoever my lucky bride is, I plan to date her for at least a couple years before proposing. So don't get any ideas. I know how amazing and lovable I am."

"Don't worry, I think I'll be fine," Sophie said.

"Sure, we'll go with that," Keefe said. "You love me."

"Nah."

"What?" Keefe asked, trying to hide his hurt face.

Sophie snorted. "Of course I love you! Maybe not as a boyfriend yet, but we're best friends, and best friends love each other."

"Isn't Dex your best friend?" Keefe asked.

"It's a tie at this point," Sophie said. "Between six people. Fitz, Dex, Biana, Tam, and Linh."

Keefe gasped, putting his free hand to his mouth. "I'm offended!"

Sophie grinned, resting her head on his shoulder. "You should be."

They stayed quiet for a while, drinking in the comfortable silence. It wasn't awkward, like Sophie expected it to be, but nice. After a couple minutes, Keefe asked quietly, "What if we're not on each other's scrolls?"

"I... don't know," Sophie said. "I mean, I guess we could be a bad match. But who knows? By the time one of us wants to get married, we could be broken up. I could be dating... who knows, Tam, or something."

"Tam?" Keefe asked, laughing as he gave out a small laugh.

"Probably not Tam," Sophie agreed. "He's like a brother to me. And anyways, he only has eyes for Biana."

"That's definitely true," Keefe said.

"Speaking of Biana," Sophie said. "There she is!"

"Sorry I took so long," Biana said apologetically as she light leaped into the room. "I wanted to look good for the matchmakers. Linh and I are applying for early job admissions, and matchmaking was one of my choices. It's one of my favorites, too. Linh's applying, too, but I don't think her heart's really into it."

"Well, good luck!" Sophie said. "Anyways, let's go."


	4. Fountains

**A/N So... here's the next chapter! But first, reviews:**

 **To TEAM SOPHIE: Thanks for noticing! I probably should have made that a little clearer. Since Sophie is in Level Six, she filled out her matchmaker's scroll a year ago, meaning she should be able to request her scroll right around that time. I don't have Lodestar right now (my friend is borrowing it), but I'm pretty sure after you fill out your packet and wait a year, you can request your scroll whenever you want. Once I get my book back, I can check and see if I'm wrong. Thank you!**

 **To TheAnonymousAuthor03: Aaaah! Thank you!**

"Here we are..." Sophie said, looking up at a giant building at the center of Atlantis. The building was made of blue, purple, and pink swirled crystal, and was surrounded by a series of leaping fountains. The castle seemed to glow, light from above the water refracting off of the castle and the fountains. Most of the group stared at the magnificent building with awe, but Sophie noticed that two of them didn't seem so happy.

Tam's eyes widened. "This- this is the place where Linh..."

"This is the place where I flooded Atlantis," Linh said solemnly. "The fountains... and the water above... I just... I caved. This is where it all came crashing down."

Linh lowered her head, breathing heavily while tears threatened to stream down her face. "I don't think I can go in there."

Fitz put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. If you don't want to go in there, you don't have to. But we're all here. I can stay with you while everyone else goes inside."

"No," Tam said fiercely. "If she doesn't go in, then I don't go in."

"Relax," Linh said, starting to calm down. "I- I'm going in there. Just- don't be surprised if I need to leave."

Biana wrinkled her brow. "Wait. How come you were at the matchmaker's office?"

"Our parents were asking for a divorce," Tam said.

" _What_?" Sophie asked.

"Our mother was a little more kind when it came to us," Linh said. "She had been trying to have a child for a long time, so when she had us, she was more welcome than my father. Of course, she was humiliated that she had twins, but we were her children. Our father's ways were too harsh for her, so... they tried to divorce."

"My father decided it was our fault that their marriage had gone astray," Tam said darkly. "So as punishment..."

"He made us come. He made us watch the whole thing," Linh continued. "I was already so overwhelmed-"

"And Atlantis was already hard to be in for her," Tam said. "The fountains..."

"They took me over the edge," Linh said. "They broke me. After the whole ordeal, the matchmakers wouldn't let my parents divorce. The flood was humiliating, and my parents are stuck together. That's when our mother truly started hating us."

"That's why we got sent to Exillium," Tam said.

"And that's why..." Linh said. "That's why I was so afraid of water."

The group stayed silent, staring at the building that had caused so much pain for the twins. Tears were now streaming down Linh's cheeks, and Tam's face held a stone cold expression, eyes full of anger.

"I'm so sorry," Dex whispered.

"You didn't deserve that," Sophie told them. "Nobody deserves that."

"Thanks for not freaking out," Linh said.

"Why would we?" Fitz asked. "We're your friends."

Linh sighed. "I mean... all this drama surrounding us..."

"After we told people we were twins, most of our friends abandoned us," Tam explained.

"I'm still a bit scarred," Linh said.

Keefe frowned. "We wouldn't abandon you guys like that. I may not have liked Bangs Boy very much in the past, but you're our _friends_. We don't care what kind of stupid, twisted stuff your parents subjected you to. We don't care if you're twins. We care that you're good people. We care that you stood by us. We care about _you_."

" _Not_ what your parents did to you," Sophie said.

"Thanks," Linh sniffed.

"Now, you ready to go in?" Biana said.

"Yeah," Linh said. "I guess I am."

They walked inside.


	5. I Never Thought of it That Way

**A/N Going to try and get completely caught up with my Wattpad version today... Review time!**

 **To TheAnonymousAuthor03: Thank you! Tam and Linh have a lot in store for them... *evil author laugh***

Inside the lobby, they were seated by an elf named Lyra.

"Your scrolls will be ready in around ten minutes," the red haired elf said.

As she walked away, Sophie asked, "So, who do you think is going to be on your scrolls?"

"There's a few people I'm hoping will be on my scroll," Biana said, glancing shiftily at Keefe. "But I'm pretty sure they don't like me like that."

Tam sighed, looking at the ground. "You aren't the only one."

Biana sighed as she turned to Tam and said obliviously, "I know, right? It sucks!"

"Obviously I'm hoping for Keefe," Sophie said, smiling at her boyfriend.

"And I want Sophie," Keefe said, taking her hand and squeezing it. Dex, Biana, and Fitz gave out a collective sigh. It was no secret that Biana liked Keefe and Dex liked Sophie, but Fitz? He had said he was over Sophie. They were done.

"I'm... actually not getting a scroll," Dex said quietly. Sophie raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Really?"

Dex sighed. "Nope. I'm not. I know I'd said I'd give it a chance, but... so many people have suffered because of the scrolls. I mean, look at Tam and Linh."

Linh nodded shakily. "I can still remember every moment. That lady with the dirty blonde hair, she was the one who got the divorce papers ready. And that man over there, the one with the almost purple eyes... he was the one who decided that my parents couldn't get divorced."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Dex continued. "The scrolls hurt Tam and Linh, they hurt my parents, and they hurt Brant and Jolie! If the scrolls hadn't existed, Brant wouldn't have turned evil, and Jolie would be alive. The matchmakers have hurt too many people, and I refuse to feed that."

"I... never thought of it that way," Biana said. "But... whoever you marry... they're going to be a bad match. Even if you're on their scroll, they'll be a bad match for you. Isn't that... a little too much to ask?"

"It's not like _we're_ going to get married," Dex growled. "Whoever I choose will have to be okay with being a bad match. Otherwise, they're not worth it."

"Who said we wouldn't-" Biana stopped herself before finishing the sentence. She stared at Keefe, as if to remind herself that she liked him.

Tam was looking at his shoes. He must have been angry, as all of the shadows had shrunken just a little bit.

Sophie's hand drew to her stomach, unknotting all of her frustrated emotions. The group was turning into somewhat of a love septagon. No, a love knot. If they didn't sort things out, their friendships could fall apart. Hopefully the matchmaker's scrolls would sort everything out. The key word was _hopefully_.


	6. Epic Burn

"Next! Party of six!" said the lady at the front desk. "Sophie Foster... the Telepath. Let me see, teal's your favorite color, you prefer to be called by your last name, your first crush was Fitz Vacker, and you're in a relationship with Keefe Sencen. Biana Vacker- you like blondes. A lot."

She gave a pointed look to Keefe, who blushed a deep red.

"Tam Song," she continued. "Shade. You were sent to Exillium, and you want someone who won't be discriminatory to twins, people who were exiled, bad match, blah blah blah. And your sister... or should I say... your _twin_ , Linh Song- you flooded Atlantis. Obviously you're going to need someone who can deal with your emotional... outbursts..."

"Nobody talks to my sister that w-" Tam started to snap.

"It's fine," Linh said. "I'm used to this."

"It's not _fine_ -" Tam started, but the prejudiced matchmaker had already moved on to someone else.

"Keefe Sencen. Your father is a friend of mine. We've made sure to pair you with the most noble young women. Although someone rather... unworthy... has already caught your heart. You like brown eyes, you want someone loyal, someone who isn't shaded by all of your _idiotic_ flirting, and you're unconditionally in love with Sophie Foster," the woman revealed.

" _What_?" Biana asked excitedly, although she soon sobered down. "Sophie, that's _grea-_ oh. Oh. I'm... excited for you. That's... wow. Just wow."

"No kidding," Fitz muttered. Sophie hoped that Fitz wasn't bitter over what the matchmaker had said. It was becoming increasingly clear that Fitz wasn't as over Sophie as he said he was. Sophie hoped that he wouldn't start to turn into the person he was when Alden's mind broke.

"And Fitz Vacker. The last time I saw you, you came here to update your information packet from in a relationship to single. Apparently Miss Foster is not as infatuated with you as you are with her," the woman said haughtily.

"You imbecile-" Fitz started to shout. Heads shot up around the lobby, and Sophie tugged out an eyelash.

"Oh, I'm sure that's how Sophie feels about you," the woman smirked.

"Stop!" Biana said. "You have been nothing but snotty, rude, and infuriating since we have walked in. You have absolutely no reason to be rude to us like this. I don't know if it's because of Linh's flood, or because of how controversial Sophie used to be, but either way, you have absolutely no right to be rude to us. Linh's flood was an accident, and Sophie saved our world! You may think you're better than everybody else just because you get to choose an enormous part of our lives, but you aren't. No matter what talent we are, no matter who we want to spend our lives with, and no matter if we even _want_ a matchmaker's scroll, we deserve to be treated with respect and kindness. If I get a job here, I'm going to make sure that I change the way people act here. We deserve to be respected. And no matter who comes in, they deserve to be respected, too. So cut out that 'I'm better than you' attitude. It doesn't suit you."

"I-I..." the rude woman stuttered, at a loss for words. "Ugh. Here's your scrolls. Get out."

Biana snatched her scroll and turned around, whipping her hair haughtily. Her high heels clicked as she walked straight out the door without another word.

 _Epic burn._


	7. The Results

Once they had leapt back to Havenfield, the group settled in the living room, Grady and Edaline handing them cups of cinnacream and custard bursts.

"So," Biana said, sipping her cup of cinnacream. "Should we open our scrolls?"

"I guess we should," Linh said. "On a count of three?"

"Okay," Sophie agreed.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

Sophie tore open her scroll, shakily reading up the list. She didn't know the final fifty boys, but she started to recognize more names as she read the top fifty.

Jensi was her forty seventh pick.

Wylie was her twenty ninth.

Tam was her eighteenth.

And Fitz... he was her number four. Sophie couldn't help but smile. He would be happy about that. Something felt strange, though. She would have to ask Keefe about it. With his photographic memory, he could look over the list and help her find what was wrong... Keefe! He wasn't on her scroll! Wait. She was sure she had seen him somewhere.

Sophie frantically went back through the scroll, searching for his name. And... there it was...

Number eighty three. Eighty three. He was her _eighty three_.

How?

Keefe was giving her a strange look. Seeing him point to his head, Sophie transmitted, _Where am I on your scroll?_

 _Ninety nine,_ he thought, shaking his head. _You'd think we would be higher on each other's lists. What about me?_

 _Eighty three,_ Sophie transmitted, shaking her head. _This isn't right. We should be higher. We went over our packets together the day after the sleepover to make sure we had matching answers. Theoretically we should be number ones, or at least on each other's top ten. So why'd this happen?_

 _I think I know,_ Keefe thought. _My dad. The matchmaker said that he asked her to give me so called 'quality' matches. My dad's never liked you. So... he probably made it so we were low on each other's lists._

Sophie gasped. _That's right! He probably wanted to make us doubt our relationship so you end up with someone 'worthy.'_

 _I really hate him right now._

 _No kidding. Hey, you wanna see my other matches?_ Sophie asked.

"Sure. You can look at mine, too," Keefe said out loud, handing his scroll to Sophie.

Unsurprisingly, Biana was his number six. Linh was his fourteen. Marella was thirty one. Sophie didn't know the rest of the people, except, of course, for her. Ninety nine. She still couldn't believe it. Two more spaces and she wouldn't have been in his top tier. That was... mind blowing.

"Fitz is your number four?" Keefe asked.

Sophie blushed. "Yeah."

"Oh."

"Is there something wrong with that?" Sophie asked, frowning. "It's not like I like him or anything. I like you. You know that."

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering how he feels about it," Keefe grumbled.

"You know, green isn't a good color on you," Sophie said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.

"What?" Keefe asked, wrinkling his forehead. "I'm not wearing any green. Anyways, I look good in anything."

"No, you idiot," Sophie said, rolling her eyes. "It means I don't like it when you're jealous."

"I- I'm sorry," Keefe said. He turned to Fitz, who was watching their conversation intently. "That wasn't fair of me. Sorry, Fitz. You're my best friend. You don't even like Sophie like that. And even if you did, I hope that you wouldn't make a move on her. And even if you did, and Sophie liked you back, I'd be fine with that, because Sophie would be happy, and that's all I want. That's all I've ever wanted."

"That's fine. I know that I would feel the same way if it was the other way around," Fitz said. "

"Yeah. Hey, Sophie?" Keefe asked. "Where's Dex?"

"He's..." Sophie started to say as she scrolled down her list. "Not there."

Dex's eyes widened. "I'm-I'm n-not there?"

Sophie shook her head. She knew that even if you hadn't asked for a matchmaker's scroll you could still appear on someone else's scroll. You only had to have filled out a packet. So... why wasn't Dex there? Did their answers not match? No, Sophie had seen Dex checking her packet to see if their answers were similar, and he had seemed pretty happy about the answers. Maybe he was on the next list. If he wasn't, then he probably wouldn't be there at all. But... that meant that that either he was married, the matchmakers thought telepathy and technopathy didn't match, or he was her relative.

That was it! Sophie had never thought of Dex as her cousin, but technically they were related. Edaline, Sophie's adoptive mom, was the sister of Juline, Dex's mom. Because they weren't blood related, Sophie had never thought that they were family, but it was becoming increasingly clear that they were.

"I think I know why," Dex said quietly, breaking the thick silence.

"I do, too," Sophie whispered.

Slowly, carefully, the two said together, "We're related."

Biana smiled. "Well, duh. Did you forget that? Just because you aren't blood family doesn't mean you aren't _related_. I mean, Sophie, do you still consider your mom your mom even though you're not related by blood?"

"Yeah, I guess," Sophie said.

"So if you think of her like that, then you and Dex are related." Biana rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

"Yeah," Dex said grudgingly. "I guess."

Sophie smiled. She knew that Dex had a crush on her, and accepting that they were cousins would hopefully open his mind to other girls. Maybe Biana... no, not her. She would probably end up with Tam. Maybe Linh. They were both very gentle and kind. Linh seemed to like Fitz, though. But Fitz liked Sophie, and Sophie liked Keefe, and Keefe liked Sophie... And Biana was getting over a crush on Keefe, and Tam liked Biana...

Why did her friends have to be so confusing?


	8. Who Was It?

"So, who'd you get?" Biana asked over her imparter.

"Well, you already know that Keefe is my eighty three," Sophie said. "But Wylie's my twenty-ninth, Jensi's my forty-seven, and Tam's my eighteenth. Oh, and Fitz is my fourth."

"What?" Biana asked, an astonished smile painted on her doll-like face. "Fitz is your number four? Sophie, you're meant to be!"

Sophie scoffed. "No, we're not. Remember when we broke up? It was a disaster."

"Yeah, but if you marry Fitz, then I get Keefe..." Biana said.

"If things stay the way they are," Sophie said. "You are _not_ marrying Keefe."

Biana rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I don't understand why you chose Keefe when you knew I liked him first."

"I didn't choose Keefe," Sophie said. "He asked me out."

"Yeah," Biana snapped. "After you had some sort of _moment_ during base quest. Don't think we don't know why you took so long. Probably kissing or something."

"I-" Sophie said astoundedly. "We haven't kissed!"

"Really?" asked Biana, interest flickering across her face. It soon faded back to a scowl, though. "No. It doesn't matter. You _betrayed_ me!"

Sophie didn't know how to react to that. She did understand that Biana had liked Keefe for much longer than she did, but she had always thought that it was just a silly crush. What Sophie felt for Keefe was... whatever it was.

But just because Sophie _felt_ something for Keefe didn't necessarily mean that she was betraying her friend. Right now, what Biana was saying felt more like a betrayal.

"Well... sorry that you feel that way," Sophie said meekly.

Biana huffed, rolling her eyes.

"What?" asked Sophie worriedly.

"You have to be nice about everything," Biana said, looking upset. "Why are you so... perfect? You get Keefe, everyone loves you, you _saved the world_..."

"I'm not- why would you- how come-" Sophie stammered angrily. She regained her stature and said, "I am _not_ perfect. And you saved the world too."

"Whatever. It's not like it would make an impact if I said anything," Biana. "You're too busy with all of the boys crowding you. And you won't even let me help you choose! I signed up to be a matchmaker, for goodness sakes! Even if they won't pick me, you can!"

"I-" Sophie started to snap, before listening to what Biana had said. "They didn't pick you?"

Biana's face softened. "No."

"How come?" Sophie asked, furrowing her eyebrow. Biana would be a perfect matchmaker. She was dedicated, noble, and she was definitely good at matching up her friends. Thanks to her, Jensi had been the first in her circle of friends to get a girlfriend, a Flasher in Level Five. "You're definitely qualified for it. I mean, look at Jensi and Adara! He said to me that in a couple of years, he might propose!"

Biana's face brightened for a second, but it soon sank back into a moody scowl. "Whatever. I told the matchmakers that, but they didn't care. No matter how many people I've helped... They just didn't want me."

"Oh," Sophie said. She didn't really know what to say. Even after meeting the matchmakers, she couldn't comprehend that they wouldn't want Biana. "That really sucks."

Biana grunted. "And you wanna know the worst part? They ended up choosing someone we know."

"Really?" Sophie asked. "Who?"

"Linh," Biana grumbled.

"What?" Sophie asked. "That's great! I mean not for you, but..."

"Yeah," Biana said. "I really want to be happy for her, but I'm honestly super jealous."

"I would be too," Sophie said. "How come she got chosen? I know how much some matchmakers judge her family."

"Some are less judgmental than others," Biana said. "The ones testing us decided that I was..."

"You were?" Sophie prodded.

"That I was too selfish," Biana mumbled. "They thought I was too selfish. That if I didn't want a couple to be together for some reason, even if they were a good match, I would tear them apart."

Sophie gasped. "Would you really do that?"

Biana gave out a shuddering sigh. "I did."

"WHAT?" Sophie asked. "Who was it?"

Biana grimaced, drawing in a long, deep breath. She stayed silent, and Sophie tugged out an eyelash. Biana seemed guilty.

"It was- it was you and Keefe," Biana said.


	9. Two Talks

"You- you- you _what_?" Sophie asked. "You put me and Keefe low on each other's lists?"

"Yeah," Biana said, her voice wavering. "And I feel _so_ bad about it. I'm sorry."

"It's... _not fine_."

"I know," Biana said solemnly. "It was a stupid decision."

"So... why- and how- did you do it?" Sophie asked angrily.

"For the test, they asked us to create a hypothetical list for two of our friends that we knew liked each other based off of statistics they found," Biana said. "It was supposed to test how good we were at pairing people we know together to make sure we had no bias for anyone. Linh chose, er... me and Tam. I don't even like him! Anyways, he ended up being my number six. I chose you and Keefe."

"I didn't think the scrolls would be used," Biana said. "And your scroll results weren't even my final product!"

"Of course they weren't," Sophie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. No matter how much Biana tried to justify this one, there was no going back.

"I swear! I had about three drafts, and the final one that I _thought_ I submitted had you as his number three, and him as your number seven," Biana explained.

"What?" Sophie exclaimed. That was her real placement on his list? That was... great. Amazing, even. Why had Biana kept that from her?

"It turns out that they didn't just judge the final product," Biana said. "They judge the drafts. If you show any sign of bias, they immediately take away your chances of a job."

"That explains part of it," Sophie said stubbornly. "But not why Keefe was so low on my list."

"A couple days after they declined me, I went back to try and change their minds," Biana said. "To show me why they didn't accept me, they switched out the professional scroll with my scroll to show me the consequences of a bias. Actually, it was the day we went to get my scroll. That's why Linh and I were so late."

"So... we were late for our scrolls just so you could beg them for a job," Sophie said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Linh came with me for support," Biana mumbled sheepishly. "The reason the match lady was so rude was because of me. I... might have yelled a little."

"Oh," Sophie said. There really wasn't anything else to say. Biana had really hurt her, although it may not have been intentional. "I'm not sure I can forgive you for this, you know."

"I know," Biana sighed sadly. "But... I hope you'll try."

Sophie nodded. "I will."

The screen clicked, and Biana's face disappeared from view. Sophie flopped back on her bed, letting out a loud groan. What was she going to tell Keefe?

"This sucks," Sophie said to nobody in particular. In response, Iggy released a loud fart. "And now it sucks even more."

"What sucks?" somebody said.

"Who's that?" Sophie asked, raising her head a little bit.

"Edaline," she said, and Sophie realized the sound was coming out of the outside of the door. "What sucks?"

"Nothing," Sophie grumbled.

The door opened a crack. "It doesn't sound like nothing. I heard you talking with Biana on your imparter, and you seemed angry. What's wrong?"

Sophie sighed grudgingly. "Come in."

Her door opened, and in walked Edaline, carrying a plate of mallowmelt (A/N I tried making it at my friend's house, it's so good!). "So? What happened?"

Sophie sat up, considering her options. Could she just lie and deal with it on her own?

As much as she wanted to, Sophie knew she couldn't. Edaline had been alive for a long, _long_ time. She probably had her share of friend drama, too. What good would it do to keep Edaline from helping her.

"Well..." Sophie started. Words tumbled out of her mouth, starting at her moment with Keefe, to her matchmaker's scroll, to her fight with Biana. Edaline nodded the whole way through, listening intently to Sophie's vent.

"You're dating Keefe? That's wonderful!" Edaline said. "It took you long enough to figure out you liked each other. I'm sorry about the scrolls, though. I know it's hard when a friend betrays you like that."

"So?" Sophie asked. "What do I do?"

Edaline sighed softly. "Honestly, at this point, you should just give yourself some time. You need to think. And please, do try hard to forgive Biana. She's a good friend, and this isn't like her."

"I know," Sophie said. "And I really want to. But... it's hard. She's my best friend, but to do something like this- it's unthinkable."

"It is," Edaline agreed. "But you need to resolve this eventually. Not now, though. Give yourself a rest. Talk with Keefe. Keep training with Fitz. Hang out with Linh. Joke with Dex. Be sarcastic with Tam. Heaven knows he's good at it. My point is, have fun with your friends. They'll know what to do."

"I will," Sophie said. "Thank you."

"You're always welcome," said Edaline. "There's only one thing besides Biana you should worry about- telling Grady about Keefe."

 _Uh oh._

 **A/N Yay, I updated again!**

 **Next chapter will have lots of Sokeefe, stay tuned! For all you Sophitz and Sodex shippers, wait your turn, Fitz and Dex _will_ get a chance in the spotlight. Stay tuned!**


	10. Duuuuude

**A/N Yesss! After this chapter I'll finally be up to date on both the Wattpad version and this version. Yay!**

"Hey," Keefe said as Sophie opened the door to her house. He stepped inside, taking her hand after seeing her worried face. "What's wrong? Your emotions are all spiky. Is everything okay?"

Sophie led Keefe to the living room, flopping down on a couch. "No, not really."

Keefe's face softened. "What's wrong?"

"I-" Sophie stuttered. She sighed, giving Keefe the same explanation that she had given Edaline.

"What?" Keefe said worriedly when Sophie was done. "Biana did that?"

Sophie sighed. "Yeah. I just don't get it."

"Neither do I," Keefe said. "She must really like me. Not as much as you do, though."

"Hey- I do not!" Sophie said stubbornly.

"You don't?" Keefe asked, his eyebrows shooting to the ceiling.

"Just kidding, I do," Sophie joked, rolling her eyes. "Someone's protective."

"Whatever," said Keefe embarrassedly, his ears bright red.

Sophie reached out and flicked his nose. "You embarrassed?"

"Stop it!" Keefe whined. "I'm the jokester, remember?"  
"Dude, you try to flirt and he gets all upset," Sophie grumbled. "What am I supposed to do, ignore your existence?"

"Please don't," Keefe said, putting a hand around her waist. "And keep flirting. I like your new side."

"New side?" Sophie asked, raising her eyebrow as she turned to face Keefe.

"You ignored me for like, three years before noticing me," Keefe said. "You returning my feelings is kind of a new development."

"Well, it's good that I started to," Sophie said, leaning into him. His head on top of hers was warm, and a flitting, fluttering thing went through her stomach. It felt good.

Keefe chuckled, kissing her temple. Keefe turned to face her, and Sophie scooted closer. "You know, we haven't actually kissed yet. Just cheek and nose stuff."

"If that was your 'hint' for me to kiss you for real, it was super obvious," Keefe said, leaning in towards her.

"I dunno," Sophie said, blushing wildly. Keefe's other hand trailed to her back, and he leaned closer. She mustered up all her courage, and said, "Maybe it was."

Their noses were almost touching at this point, and Sophie could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. Her heart fluttered, and Keefe smirked at her. "Overwhelmed, Foster?"

"No," Sophie tried to scoff, but the truth was she was, just a little. It certainly wasn't her first time getting close to kissing anyone, but Keefe was different. It was the first time she had really _felt_ something for someone besides Fitz, and to be almost kissing that someone... of course it made her nervous.

"It's fine," Keefe said surprisingly softly. "I remember my first kiss was super scary."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "This is _not_ my first kiss. And we haven't even kissed, anyways."

"I meant first kiss with someone you really liked," Keefe said. "And we should probably change that."

Keefe leaned in, bridging the gap between them. Her lips brushed his, and she slowly pulled away. "Whoa."

"No kidding," Keefe said, a grin slowly growing on his face. "I just did that. I kissed Sophie Foster. I freaking _kissed_ Sophie Foster. YES!"

He pumped his fist, a glorious smile on his face. Sophie rolled her eyes. No matter how cool Keefe acted, he was secretly a total dork. "Someone's excited."

His sky blue eyes shimmered. Sophie had never thought of blue eyes as warm, but somehow Keefe's eyes managed to be. Sophie smiled.

Keefe was really cute when he was happy.

"I can't believe I did that!" Keefe said.

"I can," Sophie snorted. "Took you long enough."

"Never thought you'd be the one who ended up saying that," Keefe said. "Anyways... err... you wanna kiss again?"

"Real smooth," Sophie smirked.

"Sorry," he blushed, looking sheepishly at his feet. He stood up. "I'm... not usually like this. I can go now."

"Oh, no, that was a yes," Sophie said, leaning toward him before you could say _Team Foster-Keefe_.

Their lips crashed together, and this time neither of them pulled away. Sophie pulled Keefe closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands rubbed her back softly, tracing gentle patterns. She ran one hand through his hair, unintentionally messing it up.

After a while, Keefe pulled away. "This is so weird. I can't believe I'm freaking kissing you."

Sophie chuckled. "The only thing that's weird about this is you."

"Hey!" Keefe said. Sophie rolled her eyes, kissing him on the nose.

"I just had the scariest thought," Keefe said after a long silence. "What if Grady catches us?"

Sophie laughed breathily. "He would kill you."

"It's worth it."

Sophie smiled, sinking back into his lips. Somewhere along the way Keefe's hand ended on her cheek, caressing her with his thumb. His other hand was against the small of her back, pulling her closer.

Sophie had never felt better.

"I don't deserve you here," Keefe said, pulling away. "You're amazing."

Sophie frowned. "Yes, you do. You deserve every good thing that's ever come your way. And I hope I can be a good thing, too."

"Dude, you already are," Keefe said, smiling happily.

"Why are you calling me dude?" Sophie asked.

Keefe smirked. "I dunno, dude."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Stop it!"

"Hey, dude, what's up, dude? You're the best dude, aren't you, dude. _Dude_ ," Keefe rambled, a big grin on his face.

"You are the biggest idiot I've ever met," Sophie said, punching Keefe's arm. " _Dude_."


	11. Custard Burst?

**A/N Guess why I didn't update? I was sick! Yaaaaay... So, basically, on Thursday, my stomach started hurting, I vomited, had a sick day, and forgot to update. Wonderful... not.**

 **To mysteriously: Thank you! Sokeefe is the best.**

 **To TEAM SOPHIE: Whoa thank you! I'm glad you've started to ship Sokeefe, welcome to the club! (I don't personally ship Sophitz, but it's cool, too)**

 **To BlackSwanGirl: Thank you** ** _so_** **much!**

 **To lovelunalovegood: Wow, thank you! I will definitely try to write more.**

 **Here's the next chapter:**

Sophie sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest as she scrolled through her phone, Iggy at her feet. Reading up on human news was something she had always been interested in. Sophie liked to think that if she had stayed in the human world, she would have become a journalist. As she started to read an interesting article on sodium intake, she heard a familiar deep voice on the other side of the door say, "Hey."

Sophie groaned. "What are you doing, Keefe?"

His face was spotted with flour, and his usually artfully messed clothes were... actually messy. There was stains all over his shirt that looked suspiciously like chocolate. In his hands were a plate of chocolate cherry custard bursts.

He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes, making it look more like a grimace. "I'm going to talk to Grady today."

"So you decided to bribe him with custard bursts," Sophie said dryly. "You know he's not going to buy that."

Keefe sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I know."

Sophie scooted aside, patting a spot for him next to her. He smiled gratefully at her as he gripped her hand.

"I've got nothing else," Keefe said defeatedly, setting the rifflepuffs on Sophie's bedside table. With his other hand he rubbed his temples, as if he was getting a headache. "To be honest, your dad scares me. Custard burst?"

"Nuh-uh-uh, mister. You're not going to distract me with pastries. Let's talk about this," Sophie said, flicking Keefe's nose.

"Huh, no custard burst, then," Keefe said, smirking at her.

With a loud shriek, Sophie leaped over Keefe, frantically grabbing two custard bursts in each hand. "Give me the custard bursts!"

"Whew, Foster's getting feisty," Keefe said, poking her side as she happily chomped on the pastry.

"Idiot," Sophie grumbled.

Keefe gave her his trademark smirk. "I'm your idiot."

"Whatever," Sophie said, red as a tomato. She took another bite out of the pastry.

Keefe grinned-a real grin, she noticed- and punched her playfully on the arm. "So, how do you think Grady's gonna take the news?"

"Badly," Sophie answered bluntly.

"Nice way of putting it," Keefe said sarcastically. His face softened. "If we tell him, is he really going to be that bad?"

Sophie sighed softly, rubbing her thumb across his hand. "Yeah. Afraid so."

"Why?" Keefe wondered out loud. "Why does he hate me so much? I just... I don't get it."

"I'm... not really sure." Sophie shook her head. "It's just... he was always scared of me liking you for some reason. It wasn't just you, though. He was really wary of Fitz at first. But... he's always resented you more for some reason."

"Oh." Keefe stayed silent.

"Yeah," Sophie huffed. Quietly, she said, "I think I might know why, though."

"And?" Keefe asked.

"It's Jolie," Sophie said.

"Um... Sophie?" Keefe questioned uncertainly. "Isn't Jolie a little bit... you know... er, dead?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. " _Yes_ , Keefe. I know that Jolie's dead. Anyways, that's not what I meant. After we found out all that stuff about Jolie and Brant, Grady got really angry. And... he's always suspected that I like you. At first it was paranoia, but obviously he was right."

"Well, duh," Keefe said.

"Anyways, he knew I liked you, and when you joined the Neverseen, he freaked out. For a while, he refused to say your name," Sophie continued.

"Ah, the 'That Boy' stage," Keefe commented wryly.

"It wasn't just out of anger," Sophie said. "I think- I think it was out of fear. Jolie had gotten involved with a Neverseen agent, and look what happened to her. He's so afraid of losing me... that he won't take any chances. Rightfully so, too."

"But I'm not a part of the Neverseen anymore," Keefe said.

"Of course you're not," Sophie said. "But these things hold on to people and don't let go."

Keefe nodded. "These experiences can scar you for life."

"And, of course, he just likes Dex and Fitz better," Sophie said. "But don't worry. I remember him saying when he gave me this talk that he would interrogate them just as much if they ever tried to date me. And he lived up to it with Fitz."

"Wait," Keefe chuckled. "The matchmaker's talk with Grady? That must have been interesting."

Sophie shivered. "It sure was. Anyways, we shouldn't worry too much. During that _very_ interesting talk he said he would accept whoever I choose. It'll probably take a while, though."

"Knowing how long he can hold a grudge," Keefe said. "It will. He called me 'That Boy' for a year!"

"He means well," Sophie said. "He's a good dad."

"He really is," Keefe nodded. "You're lucky, you know."

Sophie put her head on his shoulder. "I know."

Keefe kissed her forehead, and a warm, happy feeling spread through her heart.

Suddenly, she heard the door crack open, a surprised face looking at her.

"Sophie?" Grady asked, his eyebrows scrunched up together.

"Um... custard burst?"


	12. When Keefe Stops Calling Sandor Gigantor

**A/N Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently! Just a question- would you rather I do short chapters often or longer chapters less often? Also, would you guys like it if I had a specific update day? Because when I'm on a loose schedule I feel like I get a lot more done. What days would work?**

 **In other news, my birthday was on Thursday, so that was cool. I got a Good Mythical Morning beanie, which I left at school over the weekend, which freaking sucks. I also got the Hamilton album, which I'm SO excited about. I just discovered Hamilton, and it's amazing!**

 **I also got this trilogy called the Mapmakers, which I really recommend. The first one's called** _ **The Glass Sentence**_ **, and it's about an alternate universe where something called the Great Disruption sent different periods of the world into different time periods. Because of that, mapmaking is a prominent industry, and not only are there paper maps, but glass, clay, cloth, and metal maps that keep track of things like weather, buildings, earth, and people. It's a really interesting series (I'm almost done with the first book), and all of them are fairly long (around 400 pages).**

 **Also, thank you guys for 1.9k reads! I'm so grateful for all of these people that took the time to read my writing.**

 **Okay, on to the actual (short) chapter:**

Grady raised an eyebrow skeptically. "No custard burst. What did Ke- that _boy_ kiss you on the cheek, Sophie?"

"I-" Sophie started to say.

"Yes?" Grady prodded. "I expect an explanation."

"Um..." Sophie stared at nothing in particular. "Keefe, can you, um, leave?"

"Figured." Keefe stood up. "Keep the custard bursts. You're gonna need 'em."

He walked cautiously to the door. As he passed through, Grady gave him an icy glare. If looks could kill, Keefe would be dead before you could say 'kiss.' Sophie shivered.

Grady closed the door, and his expression softened. "What just happened?"

Sophie sighed. "So... um... hypothetically... If you found out I was dating anyone, say, I don't know, Keefe?"

Grady rolled his eyes. "Continue."

"How, exactly would you say you would, you know, act?" Sophie asked sheepishly.

"Something tells me this isn't so hypothetical," Grady said skeptically. He sighed. "You're dating Keefe, aren't you?"

In a small voice, Sophie said, "Yep."

"That's what I thought," Grady said, smiling softly. "So, how'd this happen?"

"You mean... you're not mad?" Sophie asked.

Grady frowned. "Why would I be?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You hate Keefe."

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't," Grady said.

"Really?" Sophie asked. "Because it really seems like you do."

"I know I've been hard on him, but..." Grady started. He took a deep breath. "It's not what you think. I always resented him because of his personality. He acts so much like Brant did... Charming, funny, always ready to prank someone... But the way Brant was was not the way Brant seemed."

Grady trailed off, eyes lost in a terrible world Sophie had never been. Grady had gone through so much. Sophie could barely think of the intensity of all of his life's tragedies without wanting to cry. She knew from experience that seeing someone she loved go into harm's way could be much harder than being in harm's way herself. Sophie didn't know how he did it.

Grady gave a melancholy smile, rubbing his hand against his temple. "Anyways, enough of all that. No matter how much Keefe is similar to Brant, I know in my heart that he's a good kid. I'm not angry at you at all. He makes you happy, and that's enough."

Sophie let out a heave of relief. "Oh, that's good. Does that mean you won't be giving him that big talk?"

"Oh, no, I'm definitely giving him a _looong_ talk," Grady said. "He may care a lot about you, but That Boy is known for his recklessness."

"That Boy? Really?" Sophie commented wryly. "Some things never change."

"I'll stop calling him That Boy when he stops calling Sandor Gigantor," Grady said.

"So never."

"Pretty much," Grady said, starting to leave. "I'm going to go see if Keefe's still here so I can give him that talk. But first- custard bursts!"

He scooped two pastries in each hand and trotted out of Sophie's room.

"So greedy," Sophie muttered. She turned back to her phone, scrolling through pictures of a recent art gallery. She soon turned to YouTube, then the news, until she was lost in a secluded world of her own making.


	13. A Talk With Fitz

**A/N So, we've started to get into the Sophitz area of the story... don't worry, Foster-Keefe's still got a lot more coming! Anyways, here's the next (actually long) chapter:**

Sophie looked through the mail as she brought it down to Edaline's office. _Ad, coupon, Emissary stuff, ad, ad, Foxfire letter, coupon-_ Foxfire letter? Sophie wondered if was for her opening ceremonies.

As a new Level Seven, she would have to cultivate her splendor flower so it could bloom at the Opening Ceremonies ( **A/N Detail from Exile. It was only a couple paragraphs, so you might not remember. I know I didn't.** ). Sophie hadn't visited it at Foxfire in a couple weeks, so she hoped that it hadn't died. However stinky the flowers were, they were absolutely beautiful, and she didn't want to miss out on getting to see hers bloom. She absentmindedly dropped the other mail on a stool nearby to see the letter.

Sophie fumbled to open the letter without ripping the delicate paper, which was covered in a vibrant orange tree print. She broke the seal and read out loud: "Job offers for future Level Sevens. Get an early start being an emissary, keeper, probe, teacher, or matchmaker."

Huh. Job offers. Not half as bad as Sophie had expected. It only confirmed that she had been a little too late to apply for anything.

It did offer an important question, though. Who did she want to be?

She sighed. That was a hard question, one too complex to be encompassed in one answer. Apparently her options as a noble were the ones listed, although none of them seemed too exciting. The only one that seemed vaguely interesting was keeper, although that was because of all of the pressure from Tiergan.

Lately her Telepathy mentor had been talking to Fitz and Sophie about their career choices and how they would tie into their Cognatedom. The way he had put it, if their choices weren't in harmony with each other, their whole Cognate status would come crashing down. If the two didn't continue to use their bond, it could eventually break. Because of that, Tiergan wanted Sophie to become a keeper so Fitz could be a probe. "Opposites attract," he had said.

Although it did make sense, as Sophie's mind was impenetrable, making her an impossibly good keeper, and Fitz was the only one who could actually probe her mind, along with being skilled with looking through other's minds, Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to be under so much pressure. She already had enough secrets in her brain, and being a keeper would only increase that amount. And, if Fitz was a probe, there was a chance he would have to perform... memory breaks.

Sophie had seen how performing a break affected Alden. If it turned out that the subject of the break Fitz was performing was innocent, he could shatter his mind past the point of no return. Without realizing it, Sophie whispered, "That can't happen."

But then... how would they keep their bond?

Sophie sighed wearily. For once, her mind was actually blank. She took the rest of the mail off the chair and headed back to her room, where she picked up her imparter.

"Hail Fitz Vacker."

Fitz's face filled the screen. "Hey, Sophie. What's up?"

"We need to talk," Sophie said sternly.

Fitz looked perplexed. "Are you breaking up with me? Because we're not dating, and I'm pretty sure you can't just break up a Cognate status."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about," Sophie said.

"Dating?" Fitz asked, looking slightly hopeful.

"No." Fitz's shoulders slumped, and Sophie rolled her eyes. "I want to talk about our Cognatedom."

"Yeah? So?" Fitz asked. "What about it?"

"I'm in the Silver and Gold Towers, and you've graduated. I'm not done with my Telepathy training. See the problem?" asked Sophie, sarcasm injected in her voice.

"Yeah," Fitz said. "But... can't I just come back once or twice a week for class?"

"I wish." Sophie sighed. "After this summer, you'll be an Emissary. Eventually you're going to work your way up to keeper or probe. Even then, sometimes you'll have to be gone for weeks at a time."

"You're right," Fitz said dejectedly. "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know."

"That's a scary thought. You always seem to have an idea in this kind of situation," Fitz said.

"Not always," Sophie said, smiling a little. It felt great knowing that at least someone thought her life was together. "Anyways, I think I could hail Tiergan and ask him what he thinks we should do."

"That's a good idea," Fitz said. "We haven't seen each other much since you and Keefe started dating. You wanna hang out tomorrow?"

Sophie cringed. "Actually, me and Keefe are going out on our first date."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

The two stayed silent for a while. Over the imparter, Fitz looked down, his face looking wilted. No louder than a whisper, he said, "I miss you, you know."

"So do I," Sophie said, smiling sadly.

"It's no secret that I like you," Fitz said. "Feelings don't go away just because you're dating someone else."

"I know," Sophie said. "But we're friends. You said that was enough."

"It is." Fitz grinned at her. "You know, it's a lot easier to talk to you now that we're Cognates. It's great that we don't have to avoid all of that awkwardness."

Sophie shivered comically. "Remember when we were younger and we couldn't talk to each other?"

"Yeah," Fitz said. "Well, it wasn't that we couldn't talk to each other. It was just that when we talked to each other we were super weird and self conscious and awkward."

"No kidding," Sophie said. "It's much easier to say what you mean."

"Yeah." Fitz sighed. "I wish I had realized that when we were dating."

Sophie nodded. If they had realized that earlier, their relationship could have ended a lot differently. But what was past was past. She was with Keefe. She was happy.

Changing the subject, Fitz said, "What's going on with you and Biana? She's been in her room all day, mumbling about friendship and stuff. I doubt Linh made her angry. She's too nice for that."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Low-key complimenting. The first stage of a crush. Do you want me to set you up with Linh?"

"NO!" Fitz said, lightly blushing. "And stop trying to change the subject. What did you do to Biana?"

"It's not what I did to her, it's what she did to me," Sophie grumbled.

"What did she do?" Fitz asked.

"You know how Keefe and I were super low on each other's lists?" Sophie said.

"Yeah..." Fitz said. "Where are you going with this?"

"When Biana applied for her matchmaker's job, the interviewer had her make hypothetical lists for her friends to make sure she wasn't biased," Sophie said. "She ended up with a couple final drafts. One of them was based on the actual packet results. The other was based off of her crush on Keefe."

"Let me guess," Fitz said. "They ended up giving you the non-accurate one?"

Sophie nodded. " She ended up choosing the accurate one, but it turns out that they were checking every draft. They decided that she had shown too great of a bias, and she didn't get the job. After they turned her down, she came to the office again to demand a position there. To show her why they didn't hire her, they gave me the bad scroll. The matchmakers wanted to show the repercussions of a biased employee."

Fitz nodded. "That sucks."

"Yeah," Sophie said, slumping her shoulders a little bit.

"I think you should talk to her," Fitz said. "She feels really bad."

Sophie's hand instinctively drew to her stomach, and she started to unknot the unpleasant emotions swirling through her. "It's not that easy. She _hurt_ me."

"Yeah, she did," Fitz said. "But it's not entirely her fault."

"Yes it is!" Sophie said. "She should care about her friend more than her stupid crush."

"And she showed that she did!" Fitz argued. "She chose the real scroll for you. It was the matchmakers who gave you the scroll she did."

"I guess..." Sophie said. She still didn't feel ready to forgive Biana, though. Just because her head understood didn't mean her heart did.

"Anyways, did you really think the matchmaker's scrolls would stop you from being with Keefe?" Fitz asked.

Sophie shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "No, I guess not."

"And do you really think your relationship will last long enough for you two to get married?" Fitz asked.

"I- why are you asking me that?" Sophie stuttered.

"Because. Relationships don't last forever," Fitz said. "I mean, look at us! Everyone thought we were going to last a long time. We didn't. We're all young. Do you really want to ruin your friendship over a boy? You were the one who said that Biana should care more about her friends than a crush."

"I... guess so."

"So... can you go talk to her?" Fitz asked. "She's at Foxfire cultivating her splendor. It would be good to check on yours, too."

"Fine," Sophie grumbled. "I'll go."

"Great!" Fitz grinned. "Bye!"

His face disappeared from the screen. Sophie set her imparter to the side, burying her face in her hands. Letting out a big groan, she put her head on her desk.

Thinking about forgiving someone was much easier than actually doing it.


	14. The Crystalline Plants

**A/N I know. I haven't updated in FOREVER. Sorry. No, I mean it. Now... excuse time (not really, they're valid reasons)**

 **I just got a puppy! His name is Oliver, and he's a cockapoo, which is a cockier spaniel and a poodle. He's kind of a handful, since's he's not potty trained, and he's still learning how to not bite.**

 _ **Also**_ **, for about three days, I had to try and convince my mom to keep him instead of giving him back to the breeder because my mom is switching from working from home to working outside of the house, and she was afraid he would get separation anxiety. Fortunately, we realized that my dog actually likes being home alone, as he sleeps a LOT, and actually gets separation anxiety when we're in the house and nobody's paying any attention to him.**

 **In addition, I have a dance competition over spring break, and our dances are doing... not that well. Although we're all good dancers, most of them are extroverts and tend to talk over the choreographer and pretty much disregard what she says. I'm kind of known as the quiet one in my group, and so it's really frustrating to not be able to hear the teacher. It also doesn't help that I'm actually about two dance 'levels' (according to my studio) above some of the dancers, which means that although the steps are fairly challenging for them, they're overly easy for me.**

 **Last reason: motivation. I have had literally no motivation over the past couple weeks. This was a hard chapter for me, and in school I've been getting a load of writing assignments. I'm so incredibly sorry to keep you guys waiting, and I promise that I'm going to update more often.**

 **FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN'T READ MY SUPER-LONG EXPLANATION: I've decided to update every Friday. Finally, a schedule.**

 **Reviews! (ugh, this author's note is so loooong):**

 **To lovelunalovegood: Thank you! I kinda imagine Keefe as being a really good baker that makes a mess every time he bakes, lol. By the way, I love your name! Harry Potter for life.**

 **To TEAM SOPHIE: Ha, thanks. I try to balance my story with humor and sophistication, so thanks for saying that was funny.**

 **To Guest: Yeah, I won't be updating The Sleepover anymore, lol. Thankfully I'll be updating The Best Match a lot more!**

 **To Guest: Yeah, sokeefe is super cute.**

 **To Guest: Glad you thought it was funny. Also, *foreshadowing***

 **To Mysterious M: Thanks for wanting more of my writing! Don't worry, I'll try and update more often.**

 **To BlackSwanGirl: Yeah, he did hear the whole conversation. Oops!**

 **To booksaremylife: I got the whole 'reason-why-Grady-hates-Keefe' reason off somewhere else on the fandom (can't remember, lol) and kinda twisted it until it was its own thing.**

 **To Guest: Yeah, Keefe's 'That Boy' stage is very prominent in Lodestar. Hopefully Grady forgives him in Nightfall. Did you see the cover, it's gorgeous! Needs more Dex, tho.**

 **To BlackSwanGirl: Thank you! The 'angry Grady' chapter was pretty hard for me to write, and I'm glad you thought that I did it well.**

 **To SoKeefe: Thank you! Glad you liked it!**

 **To booksaremylife: Youtube is AWESOME. I'm a big fan of Rhett and Link and Liza Koshy. Thank you!**

 **To PeriwinkleLuv9: I love Keefe, too. He's really well developed and he really moves the plot along. Hopefully Shannon continues his story ark as well as the other character's story arks.**

 **To Haven-Field06: Sophitz is actually really cute, and while I don't like Fitz as a character too much, I can really see a connection with the Cognatenom and all. There WILL be Sophitz coming up, so don't leave, Sophitz shippers (if you're still there).**

 **To malaynamonkey2004: (I'm just going to answer your reviews all at once) Ahh, thank you! I saw your reviews on The Sleepover, so sweet as well! Glad you liked it! Also, I'm trying to update quicker, so don't worry!**

 **To OMG: Thank you! Glad that you liked my story! I can stand Sophitz, as it's logical, and there is a connection. However, I like Sokeefe a lot better. Agree to disagree, though!**

 ***pants* So. Many. Reviews! Thank you!**

 **Also, sorry I updated this an hour after I updated on Wattpad, but I had a duet rehearsal:**

The next day, Sophie trudged down to her leapmaster, calling out to her parents, "I'm going to Foxfire to check on my splendor."

"Okay! Have fun!" Edaline shouted back from her study.

"Doubt I will," Sophie muttered unhappily. She chose her facet on the leapmaster, and said, "To Foxfire."

Sophie stepped into the light, pulling herself along to the school. She materialized in the greenhouse, where the flowers were growing. Her steps echoed in the bright, almost castle-like, building.

The greenhouse was three stories high, towering over the gardens. It was paned with crisp, blue tinted glass on the first floor, light green glass on the second, and flowery lavender glass on the third. Inside was a plethora of multicolored plants. Light flooded into the greenhouse, so bright it was almost blinding. It was ominously void of sound, and Sophie shivered. The gnomes were on the next floor, and the splendors were on the third, but this one was completely silent. It was beautiful, in a lithe but frightening way. The place was completely still, looking like it could topple over at any second. Sophie had asked Edaline why it was so quiet a couple days ago, and Edaline had answered ominously that the Crystalline Plants, as she had called them, were cultivated to wilt at a loud noise such as an attack, signalling the goblins to fight back.

 _Smack. Smack. Smack._ Sophie's footsteps clattered as she hurriedly ran up the stairs. There, it was much less quiet. Everywhere, gnomes were hustling around, talking quietly among themselves. The murmuring was calming but lively, and Sophie greeted many elves before making her way up to the third floor.

A couple students were there, tending to their splendors. As she walked along the rows to get to her plant, Jensi stopped her.

"Hey, Sophie! We haven't seen each other in forever! Guess what? I-" Jensi kept on babbling in his usual rapid fire, I-had-too-much-candy- today way, but Sophie tuned it out and kept walking. She wasn't in the mood to engage in small talk. Right now, she had to talk to Biana.

Jensi looked on with a sad stare. Sophie looked back, opening her mouth like she had something to say, and walked away, abandoning him in the plants.

 _It'll be easier just to get it over with_ , Sophie told herself. Soon, she spotted her plant, which was oh-so-conveniently located next to Biana's. When they were signing up for splendor cultivation, they had gotten Alden to talk to Dame Cadence, the new principal of Foxfire, and snag them spots together.

Sophie grabbed her watering can and dribbled moisture onto the flowers. Every so often she glanced at Biana fearfully, but she didn't seem to notice. In fact, it didn't seem like she noticed anyone.

Biana furiously sprinkled water everywhere, and it seemed like she wanted to drown the flower more than keep it alive. Once in awhile she would huff or growl. Other times she would stop, staring distractedly at her flower, sighing sadly.

 _Biana was really sad._ Sophie wanted to forgive her. She really did. She just... didn't know how. She kept watering.

 _One minute._ Biana watered the plant angrily.

 _Two minutes_. Biana stared sadly at a wall.

 _Three minutes._ Biana glared at something Sophie couldn't see.

It was too much. Finally, Sophie finally gave in to the quiet game, and said, "Listen, I know it's not all your fault."

"What?" Biana said, looking around. After a while, she finally rested her eyes near Sophie. She didn't look her in the eye.

"It's not your fault," Sophie said, louder this time.

Biana went back to watering. Without looking up, she muttered, "Finally. It's about time you apologized."

Sophie noticed that another prodigy was cocking his ear toward them, intrigued. Biana said a couple not-so-nice words to him, and he angrily stalked away from them.

Biana rolled her eyes. "Egmus keeps trying to ask me out. He was my number six. He's handsome, but _super_ creepy. I would have asked you for help, but, you know..."

Biana shook her head, muttering something along the lines of, "This is so awkward."

"Why did you do what you did?" Sophie asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Biana asked innocently, pulling a weed away from her plant.

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You know."

"I- why are you attacking me?" Biana asked.

Sophie raised her hands up in defense, dropping her watering can. It made a loud clank, and everyone in the greenhouse turned to look at her. "I'm not attacking you!"

Biana turned and poured a tonic into the soil. "It really seems like you are."

"I'm not attacking you!" Sophie exclaimed.

Biana sighed, sarcastically saying, "Sure you aren't."

"What the heck? I came here to apologize, not make this worse," Sophie muttered just loud enough for Biana to her.

"Well, if you came to apologize, then just apologize!" Biana yelled. The greenhouse went silent, and her words echoed off the walls. Suddenly, Sophie heard a roar downstairs. Through the crystal floors Sophie could vaguely see the outline of a Crystalline Plant starting to wilt, making a loud screeching noise.

The others started to do the same, the regal plants shriveling up and disintegrating into little crumbles of glass. Through the floors Sophie watched goblins storm into the building. Slowly she and Biana looked at each other.

"What have I done?" Biana whispered.

Suddenly, a loud alarm went off, and Dame Cadence's voice spoke over the intercom, "We are having a lockdown. The goblins have scanned the premises and there is no danger. However, we need to interrogate each and every one of you to see who triggered the Crystalline Plants. It could have very well been a distraction to cover an attack by, forbid, the Neverseen."

Sophie frowned and looked at Biana. "The Neverseen disbanded two years ago. Why does Cadence think it's still alive and running?''

"Paranoia." Biana shook her head. "It's everywhere. People think it's going to come back. Remember my grandad, Orem Vacker?"

"The Flasher, right?" Sophie asked.

"Mmhmm," Biana replied, flicking a bit of dirt off her forehead. "He's a conspiracy theorist. It's really stupid."

"What kind of conspiracies?" Sophie asked, momentarily forgetting her argument with Biana.

"All sorts," Biana said. "He thinks the humans secretly know about us and are trying to destroy the elves, he thinks that the Council knew about Fintan's betrayal the entire time, but the most prominent of his theories is that the Neverseen isn't gone."

"It is, though," Sophie said firmly. She truly didn't believe that the Neverseen was back. She had seen with her own eyes the whole Neverseen drown in a pond surrounded by Fintan's own flames. What really scared her was that people didn't believe they were gone. All of the theories would only cause more pain and disaster for everyone around them. When people were scared, nobody was happy.

Sophie missed the rest of Dame Cadence's speech. She only heard the end:

"Whoever did this _will_ be punished."

Sophie shivered, looking at Biana with a look of terror. Suddenly, she saw a shimmer of a person behind Biana. Fully formed, Keefe stepped out of the light.

"I came as soon as I heard," he said.


	15. The Biana Issue

**A/N Guess who didn't update on time again? MEEEE. I'm sorry. I had an excuse for about four days because my dog chewed up my computer charger and my computer was dead, so I had to wait two days for one charger to come, only to find out that it didn't work on my computer type, so I had to wait two more days for the right charger to arrive, but after that... I'm just lazy. Sorry.**

 **Also, guys, I'm probably going to be late for this next Friday update because I have a dance competition this weekend. I'm SUPER sorry you have to deal with this crappy updater. Anyways, here's the next (pretty long, actually, so yay) chapter:**

"Keefe?" Sophie asked in surprise.

"Um... no offense, Keefe... but... what the _heck_ are you doing here?" Biana asked.

Keefe fidgeted uncomfortably. "Got a scroll thirty seconds ago saying there was an attack at the greenhouse. Fitz had told me you were both there. I knew Sophie had to be behind it."

"Actually, this time it was Biana." Sophie said it in a joking tone, but her comment made Biana glare at her like there was was no tomorrow.

Keefe let out a harsh laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah," Biana grumbled, staring at the ground.

"She finally got a wild side!" Keefe exclaimed. "Nice!"

Biana blushed, cheeks a rosy pink.

Keefe smirked.

Slowly Sophie felt a pit in her stomach. Was Keefe flirting with Biana? She hoped not. She knew that Keefe liked to teasingly flirt, and usually it was innocuous. Still, Keefe's so-called 'innocuous' flirting with Sophie had formed a full blown relationship. One that she hoped wouldn't be compromised by Biana.

But that was all just stupid, right? Biana had already learnt her lesson after the whole matchmaking ordeal. Which she still needed to talk to Biana about.

She noticed Biana and Keefe staring at her strangely.

"Okay there, Foster?" Keefe asked concernedly.

"Yeah," Sophie said. "I'm fine."

"Sure..." Keefe said skeptically. "Hey, you realize we won't be able to go on our date today, right?"

Sophie frowned. "Why not?"

"There's a hundred people waiting to be interviewed," Biana cut in. "These interrogations can last from a minute to an hour."

"What about sleeping?" Sophie asked.

"Sleeping bags."

"Food?"

Biana rolled her eyes. "We're in a greenhouse."

"Entertainment?"

Keefe did an exaggerated gasp. "I'm not entertaining enough for you? Man, I need to step up my game."

Sophie smiled. "Nah, you're fine."

"Thanks," Keefe said, intertwining his hand with hers, smiling at her. She smiled back.

Biana shifted uncomfortably.

Seeing Biana's temperament, Sophie changed the subject. "Anyways, how are we going to keep the interrogators from finding out that Biana was the one who triggered the plants?"

"Frame someone. Isn't it obvious?" Keefe asked.

"We can't _frame_ someone!" Sophie exclaimed, appalled.

Keefe looked at her helplessly. "Well, what else can we do?"

"Um, tell the truth?" Biana asked.

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "It's the _Council_. Who knows what they'll do?"

"Yeah," Keefe agreed. "They could let you off without even a warning, or they could send you to _Exile_."

"That's not our council," Biana said. "That's the 'fighting the Neverseen' Council. They're much more civil now. They'll know I wasn't trying to provoke anyone."

"You really think that?" Sophie asked worriedly. "Because, no offense, but I don't."

"Neither do I," Keefe cut in.

Biana looked down, her face red. "Okay, so maybe it's a bit of a long shot, but the Council has changed."

"No, they haven't!" Sophie exclaimed. "Remember Kenton Arbel?"

Keefe sighed mournfully. "I tutored him in astronomy. He was a good kid. Didn't deserve what happened to him."

A year ago, a young, talentless Level Four named Kenton Arbel had been expelled and hauled off to Exile for a crime he hadn't committed. He was in his last, hopeless stage of ability testing, when suddenly a small flame had burst from his hand. Although Kenton hadn't seemed to have any stigma around Pyrokinesis, the teacher did, smashing his fiery hand with the first thing she could think of, a crystal bottle.

The bottle wasn't to take out his fire, but to hurt him and his ability.

However, the fire hadn't stopped, but had only grown larger, too large for Kenton's control. Instead of staying calm and following the protocol used if one manifested Pyrokinesis, she had screamed at him, calling him a monster, telling him to stop. Kenton's stress, the screaming, and the intensity of the situation had only made the flame grow bigger, until other things had caught fire. Soon, the whole room was filled with flames.

An alarm went off. The teacher light-leaped away without her student, choosing only to save herself. Kenton's burnt and crumbled nexus afterwards showed that he was close to mastering leaping, but because of the chaos of the situation, he forgot to protect himself, and when he landed on the evacuation field, he was faded, bruised and scratched from the bottle, and his hair was on fire.

Compared to others, that was lucky- two prodigies died that day.

Kenton was sent to Exile without a tribunal, sentenced with a fate worse than death- a memory break. During the break, the probe discovered that he was innocent, and the teacher was at fault. Still, he stayed paralysed in his little world of insanity.

Sophie had offered to heal him, but the scandalous tragedy was already very public, and the Council was afraid that their reputation would be even more ruined than before if the 'murderer' was healed- the rest of the Lost Cities believed that the tragedy could have been prevented if the Council had installed more fire safety mechanisms.

And still, throughout all of the accusations, Lady Cadence was never punished. Instead, she was promoted.

It was disgusting.

"He most _definitely_ didn't deserve what happened," Biana said. She groaned. "You're right. The Council _still_ sucks."

Sophie nodded. "No kidding."

"There's no way I can turn myself in!" Biana said. She smoothed back her hair, looking stressed. "But we can't frame someone. That would be wrong."

Suddenly, an idea started to form in Sophie's head. She smiled.

"Foster. Fooooster. _Foster_ ," Keefe said, poking her arm. "Sophie. Soph-soph."

"Shut up!"

"Sorry," he shrugged, looking the least bit sorry. "Your eyes glazed over and you started to get your 'amazing idea that's going to kill us all' face, though."

"Hey!" Sophie said. "Not _all_ of my ideas have killed people!"

"Yeah, but they have started a war, burnt down a school, gotten us expelled... should I go on?" Biana asked sarcastically.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Nope, you've said enough."

To her surprise, Biana looked hurt. She looked down and said a simple, "Sorry. I've said more than my share of stupid stuff."

Keefe gave Sophie a perplexed look. He pointed discreetly at his temples. Sophie entered his mind.

 _Was that about the matchmaker's thing?_ Keefe thought.

 _I think so_ , Sophie transmitted.

 _You need to talk with her about that,_ Keefe reminded her.

 _Not now,_ she transmitted. _Not now_.

 _Fitz told me that's what you were here to do_ , Keefe thought.

 _I know he did..._ Sophie nagged. _I don't know how._

 _I get it,_ Keefe thought, nodding thoughtfully. _Take your time._

 _I will._

"Um... guys?" Biana asked. "Do you mind including me in your little conversation? Because I'm feeling like the third wheel. I don't want to be the party pooper interrupting your alone time or whatever."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," Sophie said apologetically. "I didn't mean to leave you out."

"Whatever. I can leave you guys alone if you want," Biana said half-heartedly.

"No, don't go, I needed to talk to y-" Sophie sighed as Biana walked away. Across the room she slumped against the wall next to Jensi. He looked just as tired and defeated as Biana.

"Is Biana ok?" Keefe asked. "Because I know she's upset with you, but she seems angry with herself."

"I don't know," Sophie said. "I guess she feels like a third wheel. I mean, I'm one of her best friends, and it's no secret that she likes you."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Keefe said. "That's how I felt when I saw you and Fitz."

Sophie didn't know how to respond to that. Instead, she said, "Hey, you want to hear my idea for Biana's interrogation?"

"Yeah, sure," Keefe said. "Hey, you wanna sit down?"

"Sure," Sophie said, walking over to a bench. Keefe stretched his arm around her as she started to speak: "So, what if we did blame Biana?"

"What?" Keefe said, confused. "Isn't the point of this to pretend that Biana's innocent? Also, you haven't exactly told me what happened."

Sophie sighed. "I'll tell you later. Anyways, we'd make it seem like an accident."

"Wait, it wasn't?" Keefe asked.

"It sort of was, sort of wasn't," Sophie said. "Basically, we'd play it like she dropped something really heavy, which shattered the floor and made something fall from the gnome's ceiling, which made a bigger noise and sounded the plant."

Keefe nodded. "That could definitely work. Just one problem. There's going to be other people testifying against her. Blaming her. Possibly causing a tribunal."

"Yeah, that's true," Sophie said. "Then everyone will have to be in on it. We'll just have to trust that they'll feel guilty enough about the Kenton incident to not want something similar to happen again."

"They can help us plant evidence!" Keefe said. "Genius!"  
"I'm not a genius," Sophie muttered.

Keefe raised an eyebrow. "We both know you are."

"Thanks."

"You know, we're going to be here a long time."

"Yeah."

"You wanna just, I don't know, talk? Like a normal couple?"

Sophie smiled. "We're anything but normal."

"So that's a no?"

"No, I do want to talk to you," Sophie said. "It's been awhile since we just talked.

For a while they conversed, and every once in awhile they tried to check in on Biana to see how she was doing. After around thirty minutes of banter, they noticed something disturbing- she was talking to Stina.

Stina was obviously harassing Biana, and neither of them looked happy. The bullying was concerning enough, but there was an underlying issue.

"Um, Sophie?" Keefe asked. "How are we going to get _Stina_ , of all people, to help us?"

Sophie groaned. "This can't be good."


	16. Valin's Ultimatum

**A/N So sorry I was late this week and the last. I had a dance thing last week and a four day school trip this week. I think I'm going to start updating on Sundays because it's a little more accessible to me.**

 **This chapter's pretty short and crappy, but the next chapter will be long. Lots of drama coming up!**

 **Review tiiiime:**

 **To OMG: Glad you liked the chapter!**

 **To BlackSwanGirl: Ha, yeah, I don't blame Keefe. Sophie usually is the cause of emergencies.**

 **To TEAM SOPHIE: Yikes is right. Biana made a** ** _big_** **mistake.**

 **To malayanmonkey2004: Thank you! I am trying to change my writing style a bit, and I wanted the story to have a little less drama and a little more action** ** _caused_** **by drama mixed in.**

 **To TheAnonymousAuthor03: Thanks so much! Sorry I didn't keep my promise about updating soon, though.**

 **To booksaremylife: Thanks for the critiques! I was really tired when I wrote that chapter, and I usually don't look my writing through before posting it. I'll try to start proofreading my chapters. Glad you liked it!**

 **To OMG: Thank you!**

 **Here's the chappie:**

The gnome nodded. "So if we pretend it was an accident, none of us will be blamed. Good point."

"So you'll go along with it?" Sophie asked.

"Of course!"

Sophie heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you _so_ much."

"Of course," the gnome answered. "Calla would have wanted me to help her moonlark."

Sophie's eyes brightened. "You knew Calla?"

The gnome's eyes sparkled. "We were friends when we were younger."

"How young?" Sophie asked.

"A couple thousand years," the gnome said subtly, fiddling with her plaited hair.

It always blew Sophie's mind thinking about how old everyone in the elfin world was.

"Do you think you could ask the other gnomes to help me out?" Sophie asked.

"Of course," she said. "We all loved Calla. We'd be honored to help."

"Thank you," Sophie repeated, giving the gnome a hug before walking back to Keefe.

"So, how'd it go?" Keefe asked.

"Great!" Sophie said. "She knows Calla."

"That's great!" Keefe said. "Did you catch her name?"

"No, dang it," Sophie said, wrinkling her nose. "I'll ask her later."

"You should," Keefe offered. "It'd be nice to learn more about Calla."

Sophie nodded. "I'll ask her after this whole mess is sorted out. Anyways, how many people do we have left to talk to?"

"We still have..." Keefe paused to think. "Oh no."

"Oh, come on, if you're thinking about Jensi, he won't be that bad to talk to," Sophie said.

Keefe groaned. "It's not Jensi. I just realized that I forgot to ask Biana."

" _Keefe_!" Sophie explained. "You were supposed to talk to her!"

He put his hands up in defense. "I forgot, okay! Anyways, she's over there talking with Stina and Jensi. Well, not exactly talking, more like..."

"Harassing," Sophie finished.

"Yeah." Keefe said bitterly. " _That_."

"So? Shouldn't we talk with them?" Sophie asked.

"It's on me," Keefe said. "I forgot. Anyways, you haven't talked with Valin over there."

He pointed at Valin, who was staring at Sophie while simultaneously slicking back his greasy black hair.

" _Valin_?" Sophie cringed. "That'll be interesting. Can't I talk with Stina and Biana?"

Keefe sighed. "I wish. But Valin hates my guts right now, and he's in love with you, which, incidentally, is why he hates my guts. He'll listen to you better than he'll listen to me."

Sophie groaned. "You're sort of right. Anyways, Biana likes you, and Stina likes pretty much everyone better than me."

"Either way, I think we can both agree that this sucks," Keefe said.

"Of course," Sophie said. "This whole situation sucks."

Keefe nodded. "Well, I'm off to meet my death by the hands of Stina. See you!"

Sophie groaned as she turned away. "I'm going to go talk to Valin."

She walked towards Valin, who was now conferring with his friends, who were gesturing at Sophie. Her stomach turned.

"Hey, Valin," she said in a strained voice.

"Um... hey, Sophie," Valin said awkwardly.

She groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long conversation. "Um, so... I was wondering..."

"I'll go out with you!" Valin blurted.

"I- no, Valin, I have a boyfriend," Sophie stuttered. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Valin's face went red. "Sure, yeah, what do you want help with?"

"Biana was the one who set off the plants," Sophie said.

"So you want me to tell the interrogators because you can't do it yourself," Valin tried to finish.

"NO!" Sophie shouted. "Please- _please_ don't do that."

Valin looked confused. "Why not?"

"It was an accident," Sophie said. "I need you to tell the interrogator that she dropped a metal watering can and it shattered the floor."

"I can do that," Valin said. Suddenly, a mischevious look came upon his face. He had manifested as a Telepath last fall, and it looked like he was communicating with his friends, as one was whispering in a very loud voice, "Do it!"

"Oh, good, thank you," Sophie said nervously.

"If you'll go out with me," Valin finished.

"I-I can't do that, Valin," Sophie sighed. "I have a boyfriend. Please accept that!"

"Fine." Valin said, with an unsightly attempt of Keefe's trademark smirk on his face. "I guess Biana's accident wasn't an accident. And I guess I'll just have to tell the interrogators that."

" _NO_!" Sophie shouted, eyes wide in shock. "Fine, I'll do it. But it's not a date, it's two friends hanging out as friends."

"Okay, sure," Valin agreed. Turning around, he whisper shouted to his friends, "Yes!"

As Sophie hurried away, a gob of drool dripped on her shoe behind her. No doubt it was from Valin's mouth. Sophie groaned as the spit rolled off her boot.

 _This was going to be a long day._

 **A/N I edited this after publishing on Wattpad, which is why there are some small changes.**


	17. The Aftermath

**A/N Guess who had computer problems again? Me! So, basically, for a while, my computer hasn't been charging. Over the past couple weeks I've had a couple big events that I'll explain in detail more below, but basically I was gone a lot of the week and couldn't buy a new charger until today.** _ **Except**_ **I didn't buy a new charger. Turns out my computer was the problem, so I had to buy a new computer. On Mother's Day. Thanks, mom. I'm sure today was** _ **lovely**_ **for you. Money** _ **and**_ **stress. *all of the sarcasm* Seriously, though, I'm dedicating this chappie to my mother, who puts up with all of my computer issues, and just issues in general.**

 **LIFE UPDATE THAT NOBODY CARES ABOUT: So, I went to another dance competition, which is why I didn't update. Buuuut... I got a scholarship! For people who aren't familiar with this kind of stuff, basically, I did an audition with some choreography we learned, and the judges liked me, so next year, I get to come back to the competition's workshops (classes with the judges) for FREE! And not just the one where I live. Next year I could go to all of their regional if I wanted to. Of course, I won't, but I'll probably be going to more that one workshop next year, which is pretty cool.**

 **Reviews time:**

 **ChickenLuv8: Thanks! We only see Valin for a pretty short time and he doesn't have much personality beyond liking Sophie, so it was pretty hard to write his character. I'm really glad you liked the idea of him as a telepath.**

 **lovelunalovegood: Ha, yeah, Valin is pretty gross. What Sophie can do for her friends in KotLC is astounding. Thank you!**

 **malaynamonkey2004: Thank you so much!**

 **OMG: Thanks! The fact that there's so little known about him makes him really fun (but really hard) to write.**

 **TheBooksAreBetterThanTheMovies: Thank you, I hope you like this next chapter! I love your username, by the way.**

 **TheAnonymousAuthor03: Thank you! Right now this is a Foster-Keefe, but as the plot moves on it will shift back and forth.**

 **Sorry this chapter is so short, but I needed a setup for the next couple of chapters. Here you go:**

"What's with the water on your shoe?" Keefe asked as Sophie rushed back over.

"It's not water."

"Please tell me Valin didn't pee on your foot," Keefe said skeptically.

"He didn't pee on it," Sophie answered exasperatedly. "He _drooled_ on it."

Keefe raised his eyebrows in disgust. "Yeesh."

"It's better than pee," Sophie said.

"It's still gross," Keefe said. "Anyways, how'd it go?"

Sophie sighed. "Not well. I going to have to-" she wrinkled her nose- "go on a date. With _Valin_."

"Um... I don't know if you remember, but you kinda... you know... have a _boyfriend_?" Keefe said skeptically.

" _Yes_ , I remember that I have a boyfriend, Keefe," Sophie drawled sarcastically.

"So?" Keefe asked. "You can't go out with him!"

"I know that!" Sophie snapped. "But he was going to blab to the interrogators otherwise. He's trying to bribe me."

" _What?_ " Keefe shouted. "He's tried to _bribe_ you? That's insane!"

"I know," Sophie said. "It's horrible. Using a stupid ultimatum to get me to like him or whatever... he doesn't actually like me. If he actually liked me he'd help me because he wants to see me happy."

"He doesn't," Keefe said. "He wants to see himself happy."

"Duh," Sophie said. "He's being selfish. It's incredibly misogynistic of him. You know what the worst part is? He showed that he actually has some brains in him. If this actually escalates, we might have to get some help from him."

"In exchange for what, your hand in marriage?" Keefe scoffed.

"Are you... jealous?" Sophie asked, tilting her head curiously.

"No." Keefe shook his head. "I just think it's horrible that he's doing this. Why aren't you angry? He's forcing you on a _date_. He _bribed_ you. He's taking advantage of you. It's hurtful."

"Listen, I'm not happy about it either," Sophie said. "It's not right, and it's unfair that he's using something I care about as bait. I'm going to get out of it, just you see. You've just got to let me do this on my own. I don't need to be protected from idiot boys."

"I know," Keefe said, his face softening. "You're the strongest person I know, you don't need to be protected. It's just... this whole thing is weird. I don't really know how to handle it."

"Of course," Sophie said. "But please just let me deal with it."

"I will," Keefe said.

"Anyways, how'd it go with Stina?" Sophie asked, changing the subject.

Keefe wrinkled his nose. "Terrible."

"What happened?" Sophie asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

Soon enough, Keefe cringed. "Er... I think it's best if I just show you. Come into my mind and see."


	18. Keefe's Memory

**A/N I'm baaaaaaaack! Okay, first things first: I am so, so, so sorry for going off the grid like that. My life has been really stressfull lately and I needed a break. Life updates down below, but first... THANKS FOR 50 reviews! It means so much that you all like my story.**

 **Life updates: Another school year, another audition. I have some exciting news! This year, I am going to be competing with a SOLO! In my studio, solos are really hard to get and are generally reserved for the older and more experienced dancers, but this year I was invited to perform a solo choreographed by one of my favorite teachers. It's not final yet, but I'm probably going to be dancing to "Oceans" by Seafret. It's a really good song and it has a nice music video, too.**

 **REVIEWS!:**

 **To Ren (both reviews in one): Thank you! There may or may not be more Sophitz coming soon *evil grin***

 **To Glittery-Icecream: Ha, I bet Keefe needed that. He said he wasn't jealous, but...**

 **To koko: Thank you! So sorry I'm not a fast updater.**

 **To Coco: Thanks for feeling tortured by the cliffhanger! I've always wanted to have an actually good cliffhanger but all of my other ones have been pretty underwhelming. Sorry for not updating more often.**

 **To koko (again): don't worry, I wasn't discontinuing the story. I'm just a really bad updater. I promise I'll update more in the future.**

 **To pizzalover94: Thank you! I will definitely keep going!**

 **To TEAM SOPHIE: Sorry I haven't been updating! I'm going to try and update way more often.**

 **To Anonymous: Can't tell you what happens now, but there's a lot of drama coming up!**

 **And now, one of the first chapters in a long, looooong time:**

Sophie entered Keefe's mind and was immediately tackled by a huge mound of stressful memories. She weaved her way through them to one that was pulsing with urgency. She plunged herself into the scene.

 _Keefe walked across the room towards Stina and Biana. Both were glaring at him. His hands trembled._

 _Their emotions did_ not _seem warm and fuzzy._

 _As he strode to the two girls, Stina let out a sharp scoff._

 _'What are you doing here?' she asked._

 _'We need to talk, Stina,' Keefe said somberly. 'Something happened today.'_

 _'Well, duh,' Stina scoffed. 'Glad you're all caught up. Guess that after failing all your classes you get a little bit_ behind _, you know? In there?'_

 _She tapped her head condescendingly._

 _'I didn't fail_ all _my classes,' Keefe said. His shoulders sunk a little lower. 'Anyways, I know something happened. And we need your help because of it.'_

 _'Listen, I'm not getting into something '_ Alicorn Freak _' and '_ Little Miss Perfect Vacker _' over here started,' Stina said sharply, glaring at Biana._

 _The dark haired girl sunk in Stina's gaze. Jensi just stared on apologetically._

 _'It's not to much to ask, I swear,' Keefe said anxiously. 'Biana just said something too loud and set the plants off. She could get in trouble for this, you know. So we just need you to help cover this up. Say that she dropped something and it made an incredibly loud noise during your interrogation. Don't forget what happened to Kenton. This may not be as bad as what happened to him, but it's still bad. Help us.'_

 _'What's in it for me?' Stina asked skeptically._

 _Keefe held back a snicker. The tall girl sounded like a gangster in one of Sophie's old human videos._

 _'Feeling the satisfaction of having helped another elf?' Keefe answered meekly._

 _'No, really." Stina rolled her eyes. "What_ is _in it for me?'_

 _Keefe tapped his foot, mussing his already disheveled hair. 'Let's see, let's see... What could we do to make you be kind to another person?'_

 _Stina sighed. 'You don't have anything, do you.'_

 _Keefe smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Nope.'_

 _'Of course you don't have any ideas. All you do is follow Sophie's plans,' Stina scoffed. The blow sunk into his heart and his shoulders slumped even more. 'Anyways, there is something I want. I'm planning on getting my matchmaker's scroll soon.'_

 _'_ Like anyone would want to be on your list,' _Keefe muttered._

'WATCH IT!' _Stina said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. 'Just don't. I just want a favor. You can talk to Linh, right?'_

 _'I guess,' Keefe said uncertainly._

 _'Well... ' Stina said, starting to look nervous. 'There's someone who I want on my matchmaker's list. He's amazing. He's funny and smart and... he doesn't hate me. He might even love me. I'm not sure yet. I hope he does.'_

 _Stina looked down in a rare moment of vulnerability. 'He's great. And he's talentless. And I want him to be on my scroll. Linh's a matchmaker now. She can make sure that happens.'_

 _Keefe raised an eyebrow. 'Don't you have a lot of family in the matchmaking business? Can't you just ask one of them?'_

 _'Sure, let me just tell them that I want to jeopardize my family's chance of keeping our bloodline noble after my talentless dad decided that he wanted to destroy my family's status by marrying my mom. Yeah, that'll_ really _go over well," Stina snapped sarcastically. She was back to her old self. 'They'll freak. Linh knows about this kind of stuff. Linh won't freak out.'_

 _Keefe shook his head. 'Stina, you know I can't let Linh do that. She's a newbie. Unlike your centuries old cousins, Linh is young. If she makes a mistake like that, the matchmakers will notice. And she_ will _be fired.'_

 _'I know,' Stina said. 'But... this is important. To me and to you. If you don't at least ask Linh, I_ will _tell what actually happened.'_

 _Keefe sighed defeatedly. 'Fine. I'll ask Linh.'_

 _Stina smirked. "Good.'_

 _Keefe started to stalk away, and Biana turned to stand up and follow him._

 _He walked faster._

 _'_ KEEFE! _You can't do this!' Biana shouted, running after him._

 _He started to run, weaving through other people._

 _'Keefe!_ KEEFE!'

 _He reached Sophie._

The memory faded and Keefe's nervous face came back into view.

"We need to talk to Biana," Sophie said.


	19. Crazy, Stupid, Risky

**A/N I'm back again! I'll probably just keep updating spontaneously like this, because I'm running out of ideas for this story. I do, however, have a pretty set plotline, although it'll probably change.**

 **Sad news: I had to give away my dog. We were taking care of his basic needs, but me and my mom are never home, and we just don't have the right lifestyle for a dog right now. I'm really really sad, but I love my dog, and I want him to be happy, and I know that he's happier with his new family. We're getting pictures and updates, tho, so I know he's doing ok.**

 **Good news: Nightfall is here! Well, almost. I got the special edition with the Keefe story (!), so I'll be gettting it on tHE FREAKING THIRTEENTH, which iS SO FREAKING LATE. But I'm going to Barnes and Noble tomorrow, and there's a chance that they put it out early, like some of the other stores.**

 **Speaking of that, I GOT SPOILED. I've seen so many freaking spoilers from people who got the book early, and they're hilarious! Nightfall is gonna be a wild, wild ride, lol.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Team Sophie: Update right here! Sorry it took so long.**

 **Darling01: Thanks, Katie! Hope you start writing fanfiction soon. Glad that you took a chance on my sokeefe story even though you're sophitz!**

 **SequoiaBigandTall: Thanks, glad you liked my story!**

 **Owlmoon: Omg, thank you! Sokeefe fans unite!**

 **.FANFIC: Thanks! Sorry I took so long to update...**

 **Booklover2M: Thanks! Sorry abt the cliffhanger tho (wait, no I'm not *evil author laugh*)**

 **ivypoolhollyleaf6567: I'm not too big of a sophitz fan either. Sokeefe all the way!**

 **Here's the chapter:**

Sophie scanned the room for Biana's dark hair and cobalt eyes for what had to be the fifth time, but came up with nothing. All she could see were Stina tapping her wrist as if it had a watch, mouthing 'tick tock' with a sneer on her face.

"I don't get it!" Sophie exclaimed, turning to Keefe. "She expects us to talk with Linh right _now_? All our imparter use has been confiscated and we can't exactly leap out of here right now."

"She's Stina," Keefe scoffed. "Do you really expect her to be rational?"

Sophie humphed. "I guess not. She's so annoying."

"No kidding." Keefe scowled.

Sophie slumped against a greenhouse wall, sitting down with her legs crossed. Keefe slid down next to her.

"Where is she?" Keefe said, squinting his eyes. "Stupid Vanishers."

Biana materialized into view. "I'd prefer you didn't call me stupid. My talent is pretty useful. It's how I'm going to talk you out of this whole Stina crap."

"Do we need to? Stina just wants us to talk to Linh. We don't have to _force_ the girl to mess with Stina's scrolls," Keefe said.

Biana rolled her eyes. "We both know Stina will do _anything_ to get what she wants. If Linh says no, she'll definitely tell on me."

"Hate to say this, but Biana's right," Sophie said. "Stina's the pushiest person on our planet."

"Besides you," Keefe joked, nudging Sophie in the side.

Biana grinned. "Can't argue with that one."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Then who has spent multiple sleepovers with me trying to convince me to do my makeup? And who has spent days trying to convince me to let you pet sit Iggy, which, by the way, Keefe, is _never_ going to happen?"

"Aw, come on, I'm responsible!" Keefe scoffed. "I'll have you know that I kept my room clean for three whole days last week!"

"Wow," Biana said sarcastically. "That's _real_ commitment."

Sophie grinned, joining in on the joke. "I'm _so_ proud of you. I know you worked _really_ hard."

"What can I say?" Keefe jested. "I'm just that hard-working. Which is another reason you should leave me with Iggy."

"Not gonna happen, Keefe," Sophie said firmly. "Anyways, we need to get back on topic. What are we going to do about this?"

"Duh," Biana said. "We tell Stina we can't interfere with Linh's job, and we bribe her with something else."

Keefe nodded in thought. "That's a good idea."

"Well, of course it is," Biana scoffed. "I thought it up. I feel like you guys are losing your touch. I'm the idea girl now."

"Not true!" Keefe said.

"So true," Sophie said. "You haven't pranked anyone in weeks."

"Well, that's because a certain _somebody_ -" Keefe draped an arm around Sophie. "- mellowed me down."

Biana giggled, and Sophie smiled. Biana wasn't angry at Keefe for showing affection.

 _Maybe she was moving on._ Sophie hoped so. Fighting with Biana was tiring and petty. She didn't want it to go on. She wanted her best friend back.

"So what else can we do?" Sophie asked, snuggling into Keefe's shoulder. "What's good enough for Stina?"

"Nothing, according to her," Keefe scoffed. "She's so stuck up!"

Sophie agreed. Stina was one of the most mean, passive aggressive people Sophie had ever met. But she was the key to all their problems. They had to make an effort to be nice to her.

Wait. _That was it!_

"I think I have an idea," Sophie said. "But it's crazy, stupid, and risky."

"Great, let's do it!"


End file.
